


Living Arrangements

by EvilValenStrife



Category: Degrassi
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Hope it doesn't suck..., I'm writing this as I go along, Loosely based on my own adventures in college with some cannon elements, M/M, hella au, yay!!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 17:38:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2701532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilValenStrife/pseuds/EvilValenStrife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Tristan finds himself living in the dorms with a billionaire bad boy that he finds problematic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Crap: I don't know why I really felt the urge to make a Triles chapter fic… I suck at writing chapter fics… I don't think this one can be done in a one-shot though… I think this one will be updated whenever I have inspiration. This is hella au Triles and they don't know each other!

"Ugh… I fucking hate this shitty ass car…." Tristan groaned in frustration as he kicked at a tire of his Honda Civic.

He had surprisingly made it to the dorm but the car gave up the second he got near the parking lot. He'd planned on parking it on the loop so he wouldn't have to walk as far to carry all of his belongings. He was in the BFE (Butt-Fuck-Egypt) area of the parking lot and groaned when he saw how far away the Hamlin Hall dorms were. He'd crammed everything he could into this car with his mom's help before he let. He attributed it to years of her playing Tetris. Tristan was fresh out of high school and moving into the freshman dorm as a theater major. He'd been looking forward to this day the second he'd walked across that stage and grasped that diploma. Now, he was already beginning to hate it.

He sighed and opened the creaky rusted door so he could begin to take his things all the way up to the door. He had been about to close the door with his backside but stopped when he saw a person running up to his car.

"Hey! Do you need help? My dad brought a cart and we're all finished moving my things in." a short black haired male asked gesturing at the large box in Tristan's hands.

"OMG. YES." Tristan gaped happily.

The boy ran off in the direction of his father's vehicle and returned shortly after with his father and cart in tow.

"Thank you so much! You're a life saver!" Tristan thanked the boy and his father.

"Don't mention it. You looked like you could use the help." The boy smiled. "I'm Winston Chu. Nice to meet you."

"Tristan Milligan." Tristan shook the extended hand.

"Well, here…" Winston took the box from Tristan and placed it onto the cart. "Let's start loading your stuff."

Tristan unlocked the door again and the three began to pile his many boxes and bags onto the large cart. They managed to get most of it onto the cart and carried what couldn't fit. After Tristan checked in with housing and received his key, he, Winston, and his father all piled into the crammed elevator with two other residents of the dorms.

"So, what's your major?" Tristan asked making conversation.

"I'm going into video game design. Do you play any?" Winston asked excitedly.

"Afraid not…" Tristan chuckled a little awkwardly.

"Oh…" Winston looked slightly dejected at that but, quickly replaced the smile on his face. "What are you going into?"

"I'm a theater major. I want to be an actor." Tristan spoke proudly.

"That's cool." Winston nodded before the elevator grew silent.

The silence was broken a minute later when the elevator dinged at floor eight. Their destination. They walked down the narrow hall of the dorm and Tristan began reading off the room numbers as he looked at his paper to see where his room number was.

"806… 806…" He mumbled glancing left and right.

""806?" I'm in 807!" Winston said excitedly. "We're suitemates bro!"

Tristan smiled at the revelation happy that he'd at least have a friend in their suite. They stopped at the last door on the left of the hall and Tristan unlocked it to reveal a small foyer and two closed doors. The one on the left read "806". Tristan pushed the door open to reveal a slightly barren room. There were two undressed mattresses on unlofted bedposts in opposite corners of the room. There were two desks sitting untouched next to each other as well. It looked like his roommate hadn't arrived at the dorms yet. The three began unloading the boxes from the cart and finished in no time at all. They even lofted Tristan's bed high up near the ceiling so that he could slide the desk underneath it giving him even more room.

"Thanks for all your help… I probably would still be outside carrying in boxes if not for you guys." Tristan spoke with nothing but eternal gratitude as Winston's father bade his son and Tristan good luck on their freshman year of college.

"Not a problem at all dude. You seem pretty cool anyway and you turned out to be living right next door to me!" Winston smiled. "I wonder what room Miles got…"

"Miles?" Tristan asked.

"Miles Hollingsworth the Thrid. My best bro. He's in the dorms here too. He's supposed to be somewhere on this floor…" Winston said flipping through his phone to see what was keeping Miles.

""The Third"?" Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Sounds fancy."

"Trust me. He's not as regal as his name makes him seem." Winston snorted as his phone lit up with a text from someone. "Ah, Frankie!"

Winston's face lit up with happiness as he read the message.

"Girlfriend?" Tristan asked smirking.

"Yeah…" Winston blushed slightly looking off to the side. "Francesca Hollingsworth. Miles' younger sister."

"You're dating his sister?" Tristan balked.

"Trust me. He flipped out when he heard about it." Winston laughed. "He's cool with it now. He still threatens me every chance he gets to not break her heart."

Tristan smiled. If this Miles guy was as awesome as Winston, he was sure they'd all be pretty good friends. He was already looking forward to meeting him.

"He says that he's not coming until later today. He's got "stuff" to do." Winston rolled his eyes. "Oh, well… When you get done unpacking your things, we could go check out the campus?"

"Sounds good to me!" Tristan agreed pulling out his phone. "Here, let's exchange numbers."

After the two exchanged numbers, Winston went in his room presumably to hook up his PS4 and Tristan went back into his own. As he unpacked the boxes, he found himself thinking back on what his best friend Tori said before he left.  _"I'm not going to be there with you so, make some great friends!"_ He smiled knowing that he was already off to a good start with his suitemate and sent her a message telling her how happy he was that he'd already made one.

An hour later, Tristan smiled and wiped his brow looking over his half of the now much more inviting room. He had a bright blue rug on the ground underneath his desk and a lounge chair. He had a refrigerator but, it was at his house for when he was supposed to come back to get it. Though, with his car in the state that it was, it didn't look like that would be happening any time soon. He sighed heavily. He could probably use it to get small distances but it probably wouldn't take to well to a trip back home at the moment. Oh, well… At least he still had his microwave.

He knocked on Winston's door and peered in to see the black-haired male quickly mashing buttons on his controller.

"Oh, you're finished?" Winston spoke pausing the game. "Let's go grab some food. I'm starving!"

Winston stood up from his chair and the two proceeded to walk to the elevator. On the way to the elevator, they were stopped by their RA who introduced himself as Drew Torres. He was a junior with a major in Finance. Once outside, Winston looked around to find the building known as "Vandenburg Hall". It was a sophomore dorm that was also home to the cafeteria where they'd spend their meals. After locating the building, the two quickly made their way to the cafeteria and began gaping like fish out of water.

"So much food!" Winston exclaimed wasting no time in grabbing a tray.

"I wonder if they have vegetarian options…" Tristan looked around at all the different stations with so much different food.

"You're a vegetarian?" Winston asked grabbing about three slices of pizza.

"No, I prefer healthier options though in terms of food." Tristan explained smiling when he saw the veggie burgers.

"Whatever floats your boat, dude." Winston shrugged and made about four tacos.

After the two had gotten their food, they sat down at a small booth off to the side.

"Got enough food there?" Tristan spoke chuckling at the ridiculous amount of food on Winston's plate.

"Hey, I wasn't kidding when I said I was starving!" Winston laughed shoveling another slice of pizza into his mouth. "At least it's pretty good!"

Tristan couldn't argue that. The food was actually pretty good here. He'd been warned not to gain the freshman fifteen that everyone said they gained when they went away to college. He'd been pretty good so far at sticking to his diet though so, he wasn't too worried. He had a simple veggie burger and a spinach salad with red onion and drizzled some red wine vinaigrette over it.

The two made light conversation over their dinner and spent time getting to know each other. Winston was a pretty interesting guy. Kind of a nerd but, Tristan found it to be cool. Winston was also accepting of Tristan's sexuality and didn't judge him in the slightest. About two hours later after the two were thoroughly stuffed, they began to make their way slowly back to the freshman dorm. Winston excused himself to use the restroom and Tristan began to unlock his door only to find it unlocked. The scent in the room although faint stood out to him immediately and he looked by the window sill to find a brunet with an impeccable sense of fashion leaning out of the room with a joint. He turned his head at the noise to see the blond standing in the doorway with a worried look.

"You must be my roommate…" the brunet spoke as he stubbed the last of the joint out on the outside of the building and threw it out the window.

He approached the blond in sure steps and Tristan felt his blood rushing through his body. Who was this person? How could he be smoking in this dorm? Wasn't that against dorm regulations? The brunet stopped in front of him smirked.

"Miles Hollingsworth the Thrid." The brunet said extending a hand to Tristan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: Well, that was chapter one. Hopefully I'm doing alright and you guys wanna see more of this!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: So, here's chapter two! I'm not sure how updates are going to work. I think that I will honestly do like I said last chapter and update whenever I get hit with inspiration. Some of this story may be in order and some of it may not be. I haven't completely decided but, I will have a definite answer before we get too into the actual story.

Tristan just froze and stared at the brunet in front of him. THIS was Miles Hollingsworth? The one Winston had spoken so fondly of? Tristan couldn't believe that this was the same guy Winston had mentioned. And, he was Tristan's new roommate?

"Tristan Milligan." Tristan took the extended hand while he spoke a little curtly. "Were you smoking?"

"Yeah… Don't worry about it. I stayed near the window so it wouldn't set off the smoke detector." Miles waved off the concern.

"I don't think it matters. You're not supposed to smoke inside the dorm." Tristan mentioned.

"Geez… What crawled up yours?" Miles backed off before walking past the blond to go out into the foyer.

The bathroom door opened and Winston's face lit up with a smile when he saw his best friend emerge.

"Dude, we're living together in the same dorm room?! Sweet! Let me introduce you to Tristan-" Winston began.

"We've already met." Tristan spoke from the doorway still slightly disgruntled by Miles' now apparent disregard for the rules.

"Awesome! Let's go exploring!" Winston suggested.

"I have to air out our room because someone decided it would be a good idea to smoke in it." Tristan wasn't making his disdain for his roommate a secret.

"Dude, you didn't…" Winston put his hand over his mouth.

"Whatever… Let's go, Chewy…" Miles waved his hand flippantly before stepping out of the room altogether.

"Ugh… You still won't stop calling me that…" Winston groaned before looking up at Tristan with an apologetic look.

He disappeared out of the room and the door shut with a quiet click leaving Tristan alone. He couldn't believe that his first meeting with his roommate had gone like this. He had a roommate that not only had a blatant disregard for rules but, did drugs too? Ugh… Tristan felt the elation he felt from earlier that day start to dissipate.

Miles wasn't the person he thought he'd meet. Winston had said that Miles was nowhere near as refined as his name would lead him to believe but, he hadn't expected him to be like this. So uncaring and so blasé about the dorm regulations. He and Winston had just met their RA not but a couple of hours before too! He took his phone out and sent a message to Tori. She'd know what to do at a time like this.

 _Strike that… Worst roomie ever._  He sent.

 _Whats wrong?_  A new message from Tori read.

 _Call me?_  Tristan messaged back.

His phone vibrated in his hands not a second later. He answered it immediately and gave a big sigh into the receiver.

"What's this about the "worst roomie ever"?" her concerned voice asked.

"So, I get to the dorm and I meet my suitemate and he's cool and all that but, it's my roommate that I am already disliking." Tristan lamented. "He smokes pot Tor… And he smoked it in our room!"

"Oh wow… Sounds like a troublemaker…" Tori sympathized. "Can you switch roommates?"

"I don't know but, I might consider it…." Tristan spoke truthfully. "But, I like having Winston as a suitemate… It's not his fault he's got a rotten friend…"

"Winston?" Tori asked. "Who's Winston? Ohhhhhh, the guy who helped you out earlier?"

"Again, I have no problem with Winston but, Miles is a whole other story…"

"Sounds like trouble… He's not cute, is he?" Tori asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, yes… He's gorgeous Tor…" Tristan admitted.

Miles might be his least favorite person on the planet right now but, Tristan wasn't going to lie and say that his new roommate wasn't attractive. He just had some really annoying habits.

"He's still a jerk though so, I won't fall for him." Tristan spoke making sure that she knew that he was serious.

"If he keeps on smoking in the room, I think you should put in an official request to change your roommate." Tori suggested.

"Hmmm… That makes sense…" Tristan agreed begrudgingly. "My room smells like a fucking ganja festival..."

Tori gave a slight chuckle.

"Just Febreeze it a little and go buy an air purifier." She advised. "I've gotta go but, let me know if it gets any worse!"

"Yeah, see you later Tor!" Tristan hung up the phone and sat harshly in his lounge chair.

He picked up the throw blanket on his desk chair and scratched at his chin getting an idea.

It would be another hour before Miles and Winston returned to the room. Miles opened the door to his room to see a tawny blanket fixed underneath Tristan's mattress as a privacy curtain.

"Seriously?" Miles chuckled. "We still live together…"

"Hopefully, not for much longer." Tristan spoke flipping harshly through his magazine from behind the blanket curtain.

"Wait," Winston spoke up. "You wanna move out?"

"I can't be around a troublemaker." Tristan spoke actually moving the sheet to speak to Winston directly.

"Whatever man… I don't even care…" Miles rolled his eyes and walked over to his own bed.

He climbed up his loft and flopped onto his mattress probably to take a nap.

"Miles…" Winston began trying to diffuse the situation. "Tristan…"

He looked at the blond who lowered his privacy curtain and then at Miles who'd taken out his headphones and was quite intent on ignoring the world.

"I guess I'll just… go…" Winston spoke dejectedly. "See you guys later, I guess…"

Tristan felt badly for acting like this around Winston when the black-haired male had shown him nothing but kindness. This was all Miles' fault. He couldn't be around people who just liked to start things for the hell of it. It wasn't something that he ever thought he'd have to deal with and he wasn't going to start. First thing in the morning, he'd go see Drew about changing his room.

When Tristan woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see Miles already out of the room. Tristan rolled his eyes and reminded himself that he didn't care about where the brunet went. As he made his way to the bathroom, he noted that Winston's room was quiet too. Maybe they went to go get breakfast. Winston probably would've messaged him about it although, Tristan was sure that because Miles was his best friend that he would probably take Miles' side on this matter anyway. He shrugged his shoulders a little upset that he might lose a potential friend over this.

After he showered, he got dressed and made his way to Drew Torres' single room at the end of the hall and knocked on the door. His RA came to the door later combing copious amounts of hair gel into his hair.

"Tristan, right?" He greeted putting the comb in the back pocket of his jeans. "What's up?"

"I wanted to know if I can switch rooms." Tristan said.

"You're having roommate problems already?" Drew surmised from the question. "Let's see… You're in a room with Miles Hollingsworth, right?"

"Yes, we have conflicting personalities and I don't think I can be in a room with him." Tristan spoke looking at the floor.

"Well, it's still kind of early to request a change but, I will give you the form so that you can put in the official request if you still feel you need to." Drew nodded. "What's going on?"

Tristan had considered telling Drew exactly what the problem with Miles was but, held his tongue on it. He didn't like Miles but, he wasn't a snitch and he didn't want to completely lose Winston as a friend.

"Like I said, we really just don't get along…" Tristan spoke truthfully.

"I think you should give it some time. I've had many kids come to me and ask to change their rooms at first but, they end up cancelling that request and getting along just fine with their roommates." Drew mentioned smiling. "If you still feel like that in a week, request the switch."

Tristan frowned before sighing. It looked like he wouldn't be getting a new room any time soon. He'd have to make do for another week.

"Fine. I don't think things are going to get any better but, I have no choice." Tristan relented.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Miles will come around and you guys will be friends in no time." Drew smiled patting Tristan's shoulder.

"Doubt it." Tristan mumbled before turning to leave Drew to putting more of that ridiculous hair gel in his slick mane.

Tristan walked back to his room to go grab his car keys so he could go buy some Febreeze to at least make sure that the room wouldn't smell like he'd just lit an entire field of marijuana on fire. There was a Real Canadian Superstore not far from the university so, he could just go there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: Somehow I've managed a chapter two. I don't know how long this will be but, I hope you guys enjoy it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: And, we meet again! Here's chapter three! I hope things aren't too jumbled up. My brain flops at making things that have some cohesive value to them.

What Tristan had expected to be a simple trip to the grocery store turned into too much, too fast. He had intended to purchase only some Febreeze and return to his dorm. He ended up spending too much money once he'd seen all the healthy foods that they had. By the time he'd pulled out of the parking lot, he remembered that his fridge was still at home and not in his dorm. He would have to store everything in the drama department's fridge and, that was quite the hike. He groaned and began to turn into the parking lot of the school before flashing lights appeared behind him. Tristan had been going the speed limit so, he was confused as to why he was getting stopped now. The officer stepped out of the car and tapped on Tristan's window which he had a fun time trying to lower.

"Is there a problem officer?" Tristan put on his best smile.

"License and registration." The officer stared into the car behind his sunglasses.

Tristan fumbled around in the glove box for the required documents and handed them over to the officer. He looked over them carefully before handing them back to Tristan. He went back to his car presumably to run his plate numbers or something. Tristan chewed his lip nervously. He didn't know why he was stopped or why this was happening now of all times. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't see the officer come back to the car.

"Mr. Milligan?" The police officer's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Y-yes? Sorry…" Tristan began to apologize.

"Your taillight is broken so, I'm giving you a ticket." The officer spoke before handing Tristan the ticket. "You have thirty days to pay it. Have a good day."

"You too…" Tristan mumbled unenthusiastically.

He waited for the officer to pull off before he banged his hands on the steering wheel angrily.

"A fucking taillight?!" Tristan screeched throwing the ticket and chewing frustratedly at his lower lip.

His start to college life was already starting to piss him off. He'd been through too much today. After sitting a little while longer in the car, he began his trek to the drama building with bags full of groceries. When he finished putting his food away, he made his way back to his dorm room with the intention of just climbing in his bed, ignoring everyone. Hopefully that smell was gone by now. Once he reached the room, he heard Winston's voice excitedly chattering to someone on his phone. He turned his doorknob and discovered that it was unlocked and inwardly groaned. Miles was back as well.

He stepped into the room to smell not marijuana but, an almost forest pine scent. He looked over at his bed and saw the privacy curtain he'd installed before leaving taken down and neatly folded over his chair. When he looked up at Miles, the brunet took his earbuds out and turned to face him.

"Look, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot." Miles began. "We don't have to be friends but, Chewy seems to really like you. I don't want to upset him by making you miserable."

Tristan considered this. Winston was the closest thing he had to a friend in this entire university. It would suck to be alone.

"Nothing's been decided. It's too early for me to request a room change so, I have to stick it out here anyway." Tristan spoke honestly. "We'll discuss this later. I'm really tired right now."

Miles nodded the affirmative and replaced his earbuds. Tristan took one look back at the ticket in his hand and grunted with disdain before placing it on his desk. He'd have to tap into the emergency money his mother gave him. Tristan crawled up the ladder so he could attempt to get some type of rest. He didn't even care that he was still in his clothes. He just wanted to pass out in his bed and forget about life for a while. His eyes slipped shut the second his head hit his pillow.

* * *

He awoke hours later stretching his stiff limbs in under the covers. Reaching over to grab his phone, he noted the time. 9:30 AM. He must've slept the rest of the day. Tristan looked over to Miles' bed and once again, the brunette wasn't present. He remembered the promise to talk more about how they were going to deal with being each other's roommates. He had no choice but to stick it out with Miles. He wanted to remain in the room because they had a common interest: Winston. Winston had shown him nothing but kindness in the past two days and, Tristan couldn't just throw it away.

Tristan began to climb out of his bed to proceed to the bathroom before he remembered that he should probably pay that ticket. He turned to go under his bed to the desk and noticed a small gold piece of plastic placed neatly on top of the ticket. "M Hollingsworth" was printed in the bottom left corner. Was this Miles' credit card? Why would this be on his desk? What was Miles even doing near his desk? He'd seen the ticket? Tristan was confused. Why was Miles offering to pay for his ticket? There were too many unanswered questions.

"The pin is 1562. Sorry, I forgot to write it down." A voice came from the doorway.

Tristan looked up and saw the brunette in a pair of sweatpants and a black muscle tee. His hair was slightly damp and he had a towel slung over his shoulder. He looked like he'd gone to the gym.

"What's this for?" Tristan asked.

"To pay for your ticket?" Miles was confused. "And to fix your taillight."

"I get that but, why?" Tristan just flat out asked him. "Why are you paying for it?"

Miles sighed before speaking.

"Because if we're going to live with each other, I don't want you to hate me. I saw how tired you were yesterday and I knew that something was wrong." Miles said. "Sorry I looked at your ticket without your permission too. I noticed it when you walked in yesterday."

Tristan had to let all of this soak in. Who was this person and where was the nonchalant, weed-smoking guy that was his roommate?

"I can't accept this." Tristan spoke intending to decline Miles' offer. "That's too much money. I don't want to be indebted to you."

"I'm not exactly strapped for cash." Miles spoke with a slight chuckle. "You know "Hollingsworth Industries"? My dad's the CEO."

"In other words," Tristan began to put two and two together. "You're loaded?"

"Simply put, yeah." Miles said shrugging. "Look, I want to do this. Let me. I've already taken care of the taillight."

"What?!" Tristan exclaimed.

"While you were asleep, I made an appointment for you to get it fixed at noon today. It's already paid for, all you have to do is show up."

Tristan balked and looked at the ground. Miles had done all this for him. He looked back up at Miles' face.

"I-I don't know what to say…" Tristan stammered.

"I would go with "Thanks"." Miles replied snarkily. "Come here."

Miles walked forward and reached his arms out to pull Tristan into a hug. Tristan let himself be enveloped in the brunet's arms and felt the warmth radiating from his body. He let his own arms encircle Miles' waist inhaling the somehow still present cologne. The brunet was still a little sweaty from his gym run but, Tristan didn't really care about that at the moment. All he knew was something about this felt right.

"Oh, I see hugs!" Winston chirped excitedly somewhere behind them. "Did you make up?"

"I think so." Miles said removing his arms from the blond's body. "Right, Tris?"

"R-right…" Tristan was still a little flustered from how much he enjoyed that hug.

"Yay! We should celebrate!" Winston cheered patting Miles' on the shoulder. "Let's all get breakfast."

"Sure thing but, let me take a shower first." Miles suggested before walking to the middle of the foyer.

He began to peel the tight form-fitting shirt from his body revealing toned abs. He threw it off into his clothes hamper in the closet. Tristan caught himself staring at the brunet's body longer than he'd meant to. The brunet was handsome and muscular to boot. Tristan felt the air around him growing a little hotter and he began to fidget to get himself under control. He was not going to flip out over his hot, half-naked, and fit roommate. He wasn't.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." Miles spoke throwing Tristan a wink before disappearing into their bathroom.

"Show-off…." Winston griped shaking his head. "Oh, I met my roommate!"

Tristan had to shake his head to clear it of any lingering thoughts so he could properly answer his suitemate.

"Really?"

"Yeah. He was coming back from the dining hall and Miles and I bumped into him when he got on the elevator." Winston said. "Turns out that he does live in the dorms but, he "doesn't live" in the dorms."

"What's that mean?" Tristan asked with his brow furrowing.

"He has an apartment with his girlfriend but his parents don't know about her nor their living arrangements. He said they'd flip if they knew he was living with her so, he got a dorm so they wouldn't know."

"Wow… What kind of Romeo and Juliet situation is this guy in?" Tristan frowned. "What's his name?"

"Zig." Winston replied. "I think his full name is "Zigmund" or "Zigmand"… Something like that…"

"No way! "Zig"? As in, Zig Novak?" Tristan grabbed Winston by his shoulders and shook him for answers.

"Yeah." Winston was shocked by Tristan's sudden change in emotion. "Why? You know him."

"Yeah… That jerk used to date my best friend back in high school… Ugh… Why's he here?" Tristan groaned.

"Don't worry about it too much… He said that he won't be here that often so, you don't have to worry." Winston clapped Tristan on the shoulder.

Tristan frowned. Ugh… Zig was here too? He'd have to tell Tori about his when he talked to her later. She'd have a field day with this one. He returned to his room to grab his things so he could take a shower after Miles. His face went red with heat as he cursed himself for thinking about his roommate in the shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: I'm such a dork for this… Wait until you find out who Zig's shacking up with! Lol!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: I'm back with chapter four! Hopefully I'm being coherent with this fic. I still don't completely know the outcome of this fic but, I hope you'll all continue to be there to find out with me.

Breakfast went surprisingly well. Tristan had been surprised with how interesting both Miles and Winston were. The way they played off of each other without missing a beat. It was clear that they had been best friends for a very long time. It actually made Tristan happy to see that they had such a strong friendship.

After breakfast, Tristan hopped in his car so that he could go to the auto shop and get that damned taillight. Miles had even offered to come with him to ensure that everything went smoothly. After Tristan had gotten into his car, Miles pulled up beside his vehicle in his all black shiny Mustang.

"Damn…" Tristan whistled. "Impressive wheels…"

Miles gave a small chuckle and patted the side of the car.

"It was my reward for passing my road test years ago." Miles remarked with a slightly bitter smile.

Tristan hadn't missed that expression on Miles' face. He almost wanted to ask if everything was alright but, opted against it. He didn't really know Miles like that and while their relationship was better than it was initially, it wasn't quite on friend status. More like, "decently acquainted acquaintances". He was happy that he could at least stop feeling a sense of "ugh" whenever his roommate walked in a room.

The two drove out of the parking lot and get his taillight taken care of. They sat in Miles' convertible as they waited for the light to be replaced. The silence in the car was thick.

"So…" Tristan began feeling awkward that there was no conversation happening. "What are you in school for?"

"On paper, I'm in school for business management." Miles chuckled. "I'm actually in school for Music Composition."

"Why "on paper"?" Tristan inquired curiously.

"Because, that's what my dad wants." Miles spoke rolling his eyes at nothing in particular. "He doesn't want me to become some "no good artist". I'm supposed to be the successor to the company so, it doesn't look good for the heir's son to be an artist."

Tristan fell silent. Being the son of a wealthy business owner must difficult. Tristan had gotten lucky enough with his parents that they supported whatever he wanted to do. He couldn't imagine what Miles must feel knowing his father wasn't supportive of his dreams.

"I'm sorry for loading that on you. I know we aren't exactly friends." Miles apologized looking off at the passing cars.

"No, not at all. I just couldn't imagine my parents not supporting me in my career." Tristan spoke in attempt to make Miles feel less apprehensive. "What do you play?"

"I can play the piano a little but, my main instrument is the guitar." Miles smiled at the blond a genuine smile.

Tristan was trying hard not to seem too impressed with his roommate's talents but, it was rather difficult. His former nemesis was gorgeous and, he was talented to boot? Ugh…

"What's your major?" Miles asked putting an arm on the headrest of the passenger's side.

"I'm going for theater." Tristan spoke proudly. "My mom told me once when I was younger that I should be an actor because I was such a drama queen."

The brunet chuckled before continuing.

"Are you going for musical theater or plays and stuff?" Miles was genuinely interested.

"I don't mind doing musical theater but, I do prefer doing just regular plays. My singing voice isn't anything spectacular…" Tristan spoke looking down at his hands.

He loved all aspects of theater but, he still wasn't as confident in his vocals. He was quite the actor and scored many of the lead roles in his high school's plays but, he knew he wouldn't go too far in musical theater. It bothered him because he felt that an actor should be able to effectively do both.

"I don't know about that. I think it's pretty cool that you have something that you're into and want to try everything that goes into it." Miles spoke reassuringly. "I'm sure you're not as bad as you think you are."

Tristan flushed slightly. He didn't know why Miles' comments were making him act like this. Surely he wasn't developing some type of fondness for the boy… This was happening a little too quickly for his liking.

"Thanks… That's kind of you to say." Tristan spoke graciously.

"No problem." Miles paused momentarily before speaking again. "I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I know I do some things that you probably wouldn't like but, I think we could be friends."

Tristan unconsciously beamed at the notion.

"Totes!" Tristan held out a hand to shake on it. "Friends?"

"Come on, we're going to be friends, not business partners." Miles chuckled before pulling Tristan forward in a hug.

Tristan felt an odd heat rush through him as he relaxed into Miles for the second time that day. He couldn't understand how a person who he just met was making him react like this. He didn't know how much he was missing Miles' hugs until he actually experienced them. He let his own arms wrap around the brunet's shoulders and just enjoyed the closeness for a minute before they both pulled away from each other. Miles looked cool as a cucumber while Tristan's cheeks were a bright cherry red.

"I think we're gonna get along just fine." Miles spoke patting Tristan's shoulder. "I'm happy you're my roommate."

"L-likewise…" Tristan spoke averting his eyes slightly.

If Miles noticed his behavior, he wasn't saying anything about it. Oh boy… He'd really have to talk to Tori about this later. He was falling and falling fast.

* * *

A little while later, they were hopping their separate vehicles and headed back to the dorms. It was a little bit later in the afternoon and it was about time to go eat some lunch.

"Hey," Tristan stopped Miles before they were going to head back to their room. "I've gotta run to the drama department really quick but, I can meet you back at the room."

"I'm not in a hurry." Miles shrugged. "I don't mind coming with you. Plus, I haven't really seen any of the other buildings."

"Then, let's go!" Tristan grabbed Miles' hand and began to pull him before he realized exactly what he was doing. He let go of the brunet's hand nervously, afraid that he'd overstepped his boundaries. "Ah… Sorry about that…"

"It's cool." Miles just laughed it off. "Let's get going."

"Yeah." Tristan was still feeling a little shaky about this.

Yup. Things were definitely moving too fast for him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so utterly puppy-dog about someone. Not even that one teacher he'd had a crush on as a kid was able to reduce him to this. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that Miles was probably straight anyway. That somehow calmed him and disappointed him at the same time.

The walk to the drama building was shorter as the two made small talk about their schedules and whatnot. Once they reached the building, Tristan led Miles down the hall to the teacher's lounge.

"Oh, did you need to speak with a teacher? I can wait outside." Miles remarked once he read the sign on the door.

"Nah, I just came here to get some of my food out the fridge. I won't be able to pick up my refrigerator for a couple of days so, I have to store my food here." Tristan explained pushing the door open.

"Dude, you're seriously gonna walk all the way over here whenever you get hungry and don't feel like eating at the café?" Miles raised an eyebrow.

"I don't really have a choice." Tristan rummaged through the freezer for one of his bags. "Plus, it's good exercise."

"There's a gym if you want exercise." Miles snorted. "And, I have a refrigerator. No more hiking all the way out here for a meal. You can just share my fridge."

"I wouldn't want to hog all your fridge space." Tristan shook his head attempting to decline the offer.

"It's fine. It's big enough to fit my stuff and yours." Miles spoke taking one the bags marked "Tristan Milligan". "I'm not taking "no" for an answer."

Tristan sighed defeatedly. The look on Miles' face said that he was quite serious.

"Fine but, you've been warned." Tristan rolled his eyes. "I'm grateful though."

* * *

The two returned to their dorm room to be met with a very happy Winston and began to put Tristan's groceries in Miles' refrigerator. His was a tad bit bigger than the one that Tristan was going to bring down so, he was grateful for that. It even had a larger area for frozen goods to be stored.

"See?" Miles stood back and admired his handy work. "Much better, yeah?"

Tristan chuckled smiling before tearing open the cardboard box of the microwave dinner he'd reserved.

"You're my knight in shining armor." Tristan blurted out without completely thinking about the words he'd just spoken. He balked at his own words and quickly tried to backpedal them. "I-I didn't mean that."

"It's okay, Tris." Miles gave him a bright smile and moved to crouch down near a small shelf he'd placed under the lofted bed.

He took a bowl of spicy chicken flavored ramen from the shelf and the blond's eyes followed the movement. Tristan had never seen that brand before. It was spelled a little differently too. "Ramyun" it read. The other symbols on the bowl were a little foreign too.

"It's a Korean brand of ramen." Miles' voice suddenly spoke over the silence. "Stole it from Frankie before I left."

"Ah, I see…" Tristan finished opening his own meal. Miles must've noticed him staring.

He was grateful for the subject change and proceeded to place his dinner into his own microwave. While Miles went to the restroom to put water into his bowl, Tristan was alone with his thoughts. This was getting a little ridiculous. He'd just hated the guy literally a day ago. Now, he was practically hanging off every word he was saying? He really needed to talk to Tori soon.

When Miles came back into the room, Tristan offered him a friendly smile to which the brunet responded with one of his own. Tristan felt his body heat up with the eye contact and quickly turned his attention to his dinging microwave. Miles was going to be the death of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: Blame that new Dragon Age, Pokemon and my shitty work schedule for everything. Hopefully, I'll be quitting my job soon so, I might end up with more free time to work on this fic.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: So, like I said before, this story will be updated simply whenever I get the inspiration for it. Forgive my lack of punctuality when it comes to my fics. I write when I have time or inspiration so, I can't really promise you guys dates on anything. Thanks for sticking around regardless!

A couple of days passed and Tristan was introduced to the hectic life that was college. He had classes back to back so he'd stay busy and graduate on time. His mother strongly protested against him registering for so many classes out of fear that he'd overwhelm himself but, Tristan was adamant in his decision.

He walked the halls of the Drama and Theater Arts building in an attempt to locate his second class. It hadn't even been a day before there was a note on his classroom door stating that the class would be moved to another room. The room they'd been in seemed a little too small and smelled strangely of mildew and stale air. The teacher deemed that room unfit for a class that focused on singing so, she ended up dismissing them early stating that they'd just meet on Wednesday.

"Let's see… Room 225… Room 225…" He held his phone forward and walked taking note of all the classrooms in the area.

He should've been looking where he was going, because he smacked right into a quickly moving blonde girl. She fell to the ground and landed a little roughly on her bottom. Tristan immediately knelt down and extended a hand to help the girl to her feet.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" He pulled her to a standing position and began to pick up her things that were now strewn about on the floor around them. "Are you okay?"

"It's fine. I should've been looking where I was going." The girl dusted light blue pants off and took her belongings back. "Thanks."

"Actually, do you know where room 225 is?" Tristan asked holding out his phone with his schedule that he'd took a screenshot.

"Oh, you're in Intro to Musical Theater too?!" The girl smiled excitedly. "I'm headed to the same place. I know where it is so, let's go together!"

"Yay! I've got a buddy in the class already!" Tristan beamed. He was genuinely happy at having someone else in the class he could talk to. "So, new buddy… I'm Tristan, what's your name?"

"Maya Matlin." She shook his hand and they walked down the hall chattering about their majors.

They reached the classroom and Tristan and Maya took seats closer to the back of the classroom. The room was a large black box theater. Tristan smiled at the memory of the time spent in his high school's black box theater except, his was a lot smaller. This was already looking good. Maya nudged him with an elbow and smiled. He was already making friends and he was genuinely excited to be in college. He returned the gentle nudge with one of his own and smiled as the teacher began to talk more about the different kinds of things they'd be doing in the class this semester.

"There will be one required trip for all of you. You must attend a musical theater performance of your choosing and write a well thought out review on the performance. You have all semester to do it but, don't wait too late or else you might forget to do it." The professor highlighted this particular part of the syllabus.

"Did you hear that? Best assignment ever!" Tristan's entire face lit up as he whispered to Maya. This was going to be fun. Tristan could hardly wait to take a look at the schedules for upcoming performances.

"We should go to one together!" Maya whispered back equally excited and extended her pinky towards his.

"Totes!" Tristan locked pinkies with her and focused his attention back on their professor.

* * *

The class let out an hour and a half later and Tristan was already to locate his last class of the day. He pulled out his phone and began to determine where the next class would be.

"What class do you have next?" Maya asked pulling out her own schedule.

"Introduction to Japanese Language and Culture." Tristan spoke reading from the phone. "It's in some building called State Hall…"

"Wow, Japanese? That sounds difficult…"Maya's brow furrowed. "I ended up just picking French since I had it in high school."

"I did too. I was going to do that but, I wanted a little more of a challenge, I guess…" Tristan spoke proudly.

It was true. He was going to take French but decided against it the second he saw Japanese on the list of languages. He'd always been interested in Japanese because of Kabuki theater so, he figured that now was a good time to learn.

"Well, I'm going the same way because of French." Maya spoke. "Here, let's exchange numbers so that we can meet up between classes and on our days off!"

Tristan happily handed the blonde his phone. He could tell already that Maya was going to be a close friend of his.

They entered State Hall and were immediately met with the hustle and bustle of students entering and leaving the building.

"Wow… There are so many students here." Tristan remarked.

"I heard that this is where a lot of the freshmen level gen eds are held so, that would explain all the students." Maya mentioned.

"That makes sense." Maya and Tristan walked to the stairwell to ascend to the third floor.

The third floor was covered in posters for many different clubs and different scholarship opportunities. Tristan took a mental note of this and stored the information away for later. One club in particular stuck out to him.

"Japan Club?" Tristan read the flyer and smiled. "I'm so there! I have to see what the meeting times are though so I can make time for it."

"If I have time, I'll probably join you in that. I listen to a lot of Japanese music." Maya took a picture of the flyer with her phone. "Well, I should get to class! See ya later, Tris!"

Tristan waved goodbye to her and walked down to a classroom at the end of the hall. He looked at his phone and checked the time. 1:22 exactly. He was just in time. He walked into the classroom and took a seat by the window close to the front of the classroom. The class was to be taught by a woman named "Rie Yasuda". Tristan had looked up her ratings on the internet to make sure he wasn't going to be shafted. After all, he had three more semesters of this language and he'd rather get a good foundation. He looked down at his phone and noticed that it was now 1:25. The teacher would be walking in any minute now.

"Tristan?" A male voice called from somewhere to his left.

Tristan looked up and his eyes landed on the one person he hadn't expected to be in this class with him.

"Miles?! What are you doing here?" Tristan was nervous and excited all at the same time.

"Um… Taking Japanese?" Miles raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Oh, right…" Tristan laughed nervously.

"I didn't know you were in this class either. I only noticed it was you because of the hair." Miles reached over smoothed out a lock of Tristan's hair.

"That makes two of us." Tristan had to summon all of his willpower not to turn red at the touch.

"Well, I'm only taking it because I know a bit of Japanese. Maybe a little bit higher than beginning level." Miles spoke unloading his messenger bag. "I'm gonna see if there's a placement exam."

"O-oh… I see…" Tristan spoke dejectedly. Why was he so upset now? Because Miles might transfer out of this class? "No use wasting your time in beginning level if you already know it, right?"

"That's what I was thinking but, at the same time, I haven't used my Japanese while." Miles' eyebrows arched in thought. "I may be kinda rusty… I don't know, I'll see how today goes, I guess…"

Tristan frowned a little.  _It's a little selfish of me to want him to stay in this class just because I want him to._  Great… Now he was lamenting to himself… He was definitely Skyping Tori tonight. He needed someone to talk to about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: Hopefully this chapter was alright for you guys. It's kind of a filler chapter but a necessary chapter. It's weird… I picked Japanese as the language simply because this is loosely based on my own college experience. (former Japanese major FTW!) I plan on again, updating this when I either have time or I have inspiration. Meanwhile, if you are a kink person, I have another chapter fic that is centered around a Triles BDSM setting. I'm still getting the beginning of it going but, take a look if you're interested. It's on AO3 under this same username.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: It looks like I will be updating this in spurts of three. I hope that's not too inconvenient for anyone! I am on a roll today with these updates! I just seem to have a lot of inspiration! As I said in the previous chapter, I do have a new fic out that is a kink fic. It's heavy BDSM so, if you can't read that kind of stuff, I think you'd do well to avoid it. It's under this penname for those who are interested.

Yasuda-sensei walked into the classroom and immediately began speaking in rapid fire Japanese. There were a few of the students in the classroom who could seemingly understand what she was saying. Most of the other students looked around lost and waited for her to translate. Tristan was among those students. The only word he understood was "konnichiwa"…

"This is Beginning Japanese or Japanese 110. If you understood any of what I said, there will be a placement exam next Monday at the Japanese Language Office." Yasuda-sensei spoke.

Tristan looked over at Miles who appeared to understand a good majority of whatever she was saying. Tristan sighed at the possibility of Miles switching to a higher level. Ah, well… At least this meant that he wouldn't necessarily struggle in this class because Miles seemed to understand the language well.

The professor went on about the syllabus before asking each of the students their names so she could address them with the Japanese pronunciations. Tristan looked over at Miles again and noticed him scribbling on a folded piece of paper. Once the brunet lifted his pen again, he propped the paper up displaying his neatly written name in Japanese.

"Oh, Hollingsworth-san, you understand Japanese?" She asked in Japanese.

"Yes, a little." Miles responded in Japanese as well.

"You should take the placement exam next Monday and see if you can place out of this class." Yasuda-sensei suggested reverting back to English.

Tristan's heart sank a little again and he berated himself inwardly turning his gaze away before Miles caught him staring.

* * *

The class went on smoothly as Yasuda-sensei began to teach them the writing style of Hiragana. This occupied the majority of the class time and kept Tristan's mind from wandering too far. The class was dismissed at 2:30 and Miles immediately jogged over to Tristan's desk while the blond packed up his belongings.

"I'm surprised that I remember most of this stuff…" Miles spoke grabbing a stray pencil that had been about to roll off the desk. "It's been a while since I've seen it."

"At least I know who to go to if I get stuck." Tristan replied. "I've got to practice my name. I have a feeling that Katana or Kata-whatever is going to give me the most grief…"

"Katakana is only annoying because you don't really see it that often. It's mostly used for foreign words and sounds." Miles explained. "What's really gonna be fun is Kanji…"

"Don't scare me!" Tristan chuckled strapping his messenger bag shut.

"I'm just sayin'… I still suck at that… Ugh… I hope there's no Kanji on the placement exam…"

"Yeah, that would suck." Tristan spoke a little sullenly.

"Anyway, where are you headed now?" Miles asked checking his watch. "We could grab lunch at the café in the student center? I kinda want some sushi after all that Japanese."

"I'm fine with that." Tristan suddenly took out his phone to send a text. "Mind if we have one other person?"

"I don't care." Miles shrugged.

"Great!" Tristan smiled as he looked down to see his phone light up with a message from one Maya Matlin. "She says she'll meet us at the main entrance."

Miles and Tristan made their way down the staircase and back to the entrance where they found a bubbly blonde standing by the door.

"Maya!" Tristan called excitedly running towards the girl.

"Hey! How did class go?" She accepted his hug and smiled back at him. "Oh, who's this?"

"This is my roomie Miles Hollingsworth." Tristan spoke gesturing to Miles.

Miles eyed her momentarily before he extended a hand to Maya.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Maya." Miles spoke with a suave air to his voice. "We're getting sushi at the café, is that alright with you?"

Maya's face went a little red and who could blame her, Miles was attractive. Tristan knew this but, that still didn't stop him from getting a little annoyed by it. He needed to reign that in soon. Miles wasn't his property but, he didn't like how flirty Miles was being with Maya.

"Hey, let's get going." Tristan said rolling his eyes and pushing the door open letting the cool autumn air blow into the door.

The trio made their way to the café which was unsurprisingly crowded. It was prime lunch time after all. Miles spotted a table near the silverware and suggested that they take turns going up so that they could hold the table. Tristan and Maya decided to go together leaving Miles at the table to guard the bags.

"So…" Tristan began as he grabbed a tray from the stack. "You and my roomie?"

"W-what?! I-I'm not… I wasn't…" Maya's face started to get a noticeable blush. "He's just… Cute…"

"Yeah, I know." Tristan said a little bitterly.

"Oh, I'm sorry Tris!" Maya spoke grabbing the seaweed salad and putting it on her tray. "I didn't know… I didn't want to assume…"

"It's fine…" Tristan gave a slightly forced smile. "He's straight anyway. This isn't anything I haven't dealt with before."

"If it bothers you, I won't go after him…" Maya spoke with a smile. "I want to be good friends with you and if you like him, I understand and respect that."

Tristan felt a little guilty for how he was acting a while ago. Maya was trying to consider his feelings. Even if there was no way that Miles would return the attraction, Maya still was willing to put her own feelings aside for Tristan's. That's not right. If she could do it, he had no right to be selfish.

"If it's not you, it's some random girl that I don't know." Tristan shrugged. "At least, I actually like you. Don't worry about me. Go after who you want."

Maya's face lit up.

"Thanks Tris!" she spoke putting down her tray to give him a hug. "I am glad that I made a friend like you."

"Me too Maya Mat." Tristan returned the embrace happy that at least Maya seemed like a good choice for Miles. "Now, let's get back to the table before our Prince Charming eats the table."

Maya laughed before placing a spicy tuna roll onto her tray. They paid for their food and walked back over to where Miles was sitting and playing with his phone.

"There's spicy yellowtail up there!" Tristan smirked holding up his container of food proudly.

"What?! That's the best one! I'm buying two of those!" Miles practically leapt from his chair. "What did you get, Maya?"

"Spicy tuna and a seaweed salad." Maya spoke with a slight blush.

"Sounds good." Miles gave her an easy smile before he was off into the rush of people.

"Sounds like he's interested in you." Tristan turned to Maya with a grin.

"You think so?" Maya played with a strand of hair absently. "I don't know…"

"I haven't known him all that long but, I know flirting when I see it." Tristan spoke plopping a yellowtail roll into his mouth.

"Which dorm do you guys live in? Is it Hamlin?" Maya asked mixing some wasabi and soy sauce.

"Yup. The freshmen dorms. What about you?"

"Oh, I commute." Maya replied. "I don't live at home though. I moved in with my friend earlier this summer. We have an apartment not far from here."

He wasn't expecting that answer. He knew that the school had more commuters than it did people that lived on campus. Tristan had just assumed that she lived in the dorms or in an on-campus apartment.

"Really? What made you guys decide to get an off-campus apartment?" Tristan was genuinely interested.

"Honestly, it's a little cheaper. I was initially going to stay in the dorms but, I didn't really want to end up with a roommate that I wouldn't like. My current roomie and I split the cost of the apartment and since I'm here on a full-ride, I'm not struggling money wise." Maya explained.

"Wow… That's actually kinda cool…" Tristan spoke and he meant it. "What's your roomie like? Is she as awesome as you?"

" **He**  is pretty awesome. He actually was supposed to be living in the dorms."

"He?" Tristan was a little confused. It's possible for people of the opposite sex to live together and not be attracted to each other he guessed.

"And before you ask, no, we're not interested in each other like that." Maya mentioned. "We already tried that and it didn't work out so we're just friends now. He was dating someone else a little while ago… Terri… Or, Tori! That was her name!"

Tristan's face went several shades of white in the span of three seconds.

"'Tori?!' As in "Tori Santamaria"?! That's my best friend! And in that case… Oh no…" Tristan's soul sank a little as he realized who Maya's roommate was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: Surprise surprise. Hope you guys enjoyed that little plot twist! Lol! I'm a mess… Like, an actual mess! Don't worry, we'll be seeing Tori's reaction to Zig and Maya living together in the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: Those last three chapters were so very me! They were written based pretty much like my own college experience! It'll be fun to see if you guys can pick out which parts were one-hundred percent true and which were made up! Tell me in the comments and, I'll tell you if you've guessed correctly.

"Zig, as in, really outdated hairstyle, looks like an extra from the movie Grease, Zig?" Tristan's eyes were fixed on Maya with a shocked expression.

"Yeah, that's him." Maya spoke with a chuckle likely at Tristan's strangely accurate description of her roommate. "You three know each other?"

Tristan huffed placing his chopsticks back down onto his tray.

"Of course. Tori and Zig used to date and Tori is  _my_  best friend." Tristan frowned. "When they broke up, obviously you know it wasn't on good terms."

"Yeah, from what Zig said…" Maya looked down a little sullenly.

Tristan took note and mentally berated himself. This was still her roommate no matter how much Tristan couldn't stand him. He just couldn't get over how wrongly he did Tori while they were together.

"Zig?" A voice came closer to the table. "I think Chewy mentioned that name earlier…."

Miles rejoined the duo at the table sitting down and beginning to eat his own food. He made a thoughtful face for a few more minutes before suddenly snapping his fingers in the affirmative.

"Right!" He exclaimed nearly tipping over his tea. "That's his roommate and our suitemate."

"What?" Tristan exclaimed dramatically burying his head into his palms. "Ugh….. Could this get any worse?!"

Of all the people on the planet to be sharing a room with… Zig-fucking-Novak… Tristan moaned as he let his head fall to the table with a  _thunk_!

"I don't see what the big deal is…" Miles shrugged opening up the pack of spicy yellowtail. "So he's your bestie's ex… Why are you so mad about it?"

"Umm… Hello? Best friend's ex! That makes us enemies once removed." Tristan's eyes bulged wide.

"That's stupid… If you don't like him, you don't like him but, you shouldn't let someone else's problems be your own…." Miles shrugged again and plopped a piece of yellowtail in his mouth.

"Like you don't stick up for Winston when someone tries to come at him sideways?" Tristan rolled his eyes exasperated with this conversation.

"I do. But, just because he doesn't like someone doesn't mean that I shouldn't."

"I didn't know there was bad blood between you two…" Maya spoke up for the first time. "It's a small world, huh?"

Tristan sighed and continued to eat his food. He couldn't help it if he was a little more loyal to Tori. He had seen first-hand what Zig was like and he knew that he'd be at odds with him. He'd just avoid having to talk to Zig.

After they finished their awkward lunch session, Tristan and Miles were going to head back to their dorm room but wanted to give Maya a tour of the dorm. They reached their floor and walked in to find Winston in his room with the door open and the volume from his TV blaring loudly. He was screaming obscenities into his headset while seemingly mashing the buttons of his controller.

"Fuckin' lag!" He exclaimed almost throwing the controller before he turned around and saw that he had an audience. "Oh… H-hi there…"

Miles gave a smirk at his best friend before walking into the room with Maya and Tristan in tow. Maya looked around the foyer in awe of how the dorm looked.

"Wow… My sister's dorm wasn't this big…" She remarked peering into the shared closet space.

"Oh, right. Introductions." Tristan remembered that Winston had yet to meet Maya. "Winston, Maya. Maya, Winston."

"Nice to meet you!" Maya's naturally bubbly personality was in full-force as she shook Winston's hand. "You must be my roommate, Zig's roommate."

"Y-yeah…" Winston found himself blushing. He had a girlfriend, a great one but, Maya was still pretty. "It's good to meet you too."

Miles rolled his eyes before clearing his throat and glaring at Winston. Winston, who looked up to see his best friend's stare quickly released Maya's hand and looked down at his lap.

"Anyway, and this is me and Tris' room." He pushed the door open.

Tristan's face fell a little as Miles smiled while watching Maya stare in amazement at their room.  _No, not now… You said it was okay and you're gonna stick by that… No point in getting upset. You couldn't have him anyway…_  Tristan shook his head free of those thoughts and quickly put up a smile.

"Obviously, this area is my own little loft." Tristan spoke with a flourish of his hands.

"Just as classy as I expected." Maya chuckled before her eyes landed on a set of DVDs. "No way… You watch Supernatural too?!"

Tristan's eyes lit up excitedly.

"OMG. Yes. It's one of my favorites! I know the entire series is on Netflix but, I love having a physical copy." Tristan spoke taking Maya's hands in his own.

"We have to binge watch the entire series!" Maya suggested matching Tristan's enthusiasm with her own.

"Totes!" Tristan smiled happy that he now had a buddy to watch the show with. It was a little difficult watching it with Tori even though they would be on the phone while watching it.

"Do you watch Supernatural too, Miles?" Maya asked still excited about the prospect of watching the show.

"Nah, I've been meaning to watch it but, I never did get around to it." Miles spoke leaning against his bed post.

"You should watch it with me and Tristan!"

"Sure." Miles gave an easy smile and Maya blushed a little in return.

Tristan desperately tried to ignore the slight pang his chest gave. He looked away and tired not to focus on the scene in front of him. Maya's phone began to buzz loudly in her pocket.

"Oh, it's Zig!" Maya answered the phone turning to talk to her own roommate.

"Everything alright, Tris?" Miles asked.

"I'm fine." Tristan quickly shook off the concern.

Maya ended her phone call and turned back around to face her new friends.

"I've gotta get going. Zig wants to go grocery shopping for the apartment. I'll be coming back to visit you this week! We should do something after classes tomorrow if you guys are free!"

"Totes! Sounds good to me!" Tristan pulled her into a tight hug and said his goodbyes.

"See ya around, Maya." Miles replied as suave as ever.

"D-defintely." She twisted a lock of her hair nervously staring at the handsome brunet in front of her.

After Maya left, Miles and Tristan stood in the room staring at each other.

"Now will you tell me what's wrong?" Miles spoke pushing the door closed with his foot.

"There's nothing wrong." Tristan insisted as he sat in his small chair under his lofted bed.

Miles rolled his eyes before climbing up the ladder to his loft and crawling onto his own bed.

"Keep your secrets. I'm here if you need to talk though…" Miles spoke before taking his earbuds from underneath his pillow and plugging them into his phone. "I'm gonna get some shut-eye so, g'night."

"Good night." Miles placed the buds into his ears and began to drift off to sleep.

The silence in the room was a little more than deafening but, Tristan hadn't felt like leaving his room. He looked down to see a text message from his bestie Tori.

_Hey! I'm finally free! Wanna talk?_

Tristan smiled a little. Tori really knew him well. Even when he said nothing, she somehow could tell when he was upset or when he was bothered by something.

_Can we Skype?_

A second later.

_Sure. Give me a second to set my computer up_

Tristan began to boot up his own computer carefully placing the cord into the headphones slot. Tristan moved into view and pulled up the Skype application.  _WestDrivegal95_  was her username and Tristan smiled just thinking back to their childhood days of loving that show West Drive. Sure, the first seasons were better than the current ones but, they always found themselves tuning into the new seasons whenever they came out.

He looked up to see Miles seemingly knocked out with his arm draped over his bed. The brunet slept so wildly but, Tristan couldn't help but find it endearing. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. So calm and serene. Tristan felt the blush rising to his cheeks and attempted to shake the thoughts from his head. He was going to give himself whiplash if he kept that course of action up.

_Ready!_

He clicked on her username and hit the call button. Shortly, her face came into view albeit a little fuzzy. The internet connection was a little shitty in their room he noticed. He looked up at her and smiled waving his hands excitedly. Tori's hair was still long and curly. Tristan noticed that she'd taken off her makeup which meant that she was probably not going out for the rest of the night.

"Tris! I've missed your face so much!" Tori took her hand and pressed a big kiss to the back of it holding it up to her camera.

"Likewise!" Tristan turned his cheek to the camera to receive the internet kiss. They'd been doing that since they started using Skype. "How have you been?"

"I've been great! Why are you whispering?" Her confused face came into view.

"Oh, the roomie's asleep and I'm still in the room. I don't want to wake him up. You should see him Tor! He's so adorable when he's asleep!" Tristan couldn't help the excitement that leaked into his voice.

"Tris…" Tori started.

"I know, I know…." Tristan spoke waving his hand. "Anywho, gurl… I've got bad new to tell you…"

"Uh-oh!" The worried look was clearly plastered onto her face. "What's wrong?"

"You'll never guess who my other suitemate is…" Tristan began rolling his eyes and sighing.

Tori hummed in contemplation. She shook her head in defeat once she realized that she didn't have a good enough guess.

"Novak." Tristan said simply.

"No way! Zig?" Tori exclaimed in a high pitched scream.

Tristan had to remove one of his earbuds to rub at his now aching eardrum.

"Oop, sorry!" She apologized before launching into a slew of questions. "How'd you find that out?!"

"My new friend Maya, who apparently you already know, is his other roommate."

"Wait, Maya? Maya Matlin?" Tori remembered the girl well. She had come on a couple of their "not dates" and hung out. "Wait…. I'm confused… I thought that your room only had a four person limit."

"No, no. Maya's not living with us. She lives with Zig in an off-campus apartment." Tristan explained.

"Why does he have a dorm then?" Tori asked giving Tristan a confused look. "That seems kinda pointless."

"I know. He apparently doesn't want the dorm at all but, his parents want him in one. So, he "officially" lives in the dorms but, he really lives in an apartment."

Tori shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess… How've things been going with you and the roomie?"

"We're friends but…" Tristan began. "I don't really know…"

"Uh-oh… Did you tell him that you liked him?" She asked, the concern in her voice apparent.

"No… I don't think I will either. He's obviously straight. He was totally flirting with Maya earlier today." Tristan's mood dropped and he couldn't help the slightly bitter tone in his voice.

"Wow… Girl moves fast." Tori chuckled before receiving a look of bewilderment from Tristan. "Oh, sorry… Surely you told her how you felt about Miles?"

Tristan sighed. That's why he was in this mess. In this funk. He valued Maya as a friend and didn't want to put his own feelings before hers. He'd just met her but, he instantly felt a bond with her and knew that they would become the best of friends.

"It's complicated." Tristan answered finally. "I told her about my crush and she said that she wouldn't go after him but, it would be selfish of me to stop her. Especially since Miles seems so into her."

Tristan paused for a second before speaking again.

"What would you do if you were me, Tor?"

Tori's brow wrinkled in thought as she gave Tristan a sympathetic smile.

"I would let her have him…" She spoke nodding her head. "I think you made the right decision and I'm proud of you for having the strength to put your own feelings aside. If you think they will be good together, you should let them."

Tristan gave a bitter smile knowing that she was right. Miles was unattainable to him regardless of Maya's involvement or not. He just wished this were easier.

"Thanks Tor, I'm glad you've always got my back. Even when I'm being so messy…" Tristan meant every word.

Tori smiled and shook her head.

"You know I would move mountains for you. You're my dearest and oldest friend."

Tristan knew how true that was. They'd been best friends since they were kids. At first, when he found out that Tori wasn't going to the same university, he'd been devastated. This would be the first time they had been separated school wise. It wasn't easy not being able to see his best friend everyday but, Tristan knew that she was just a phone call away. Even being so far away from each other, they spoke to each other like they'd just seen each other the other day.

"What would I do without you?" Tristan spoke smiling. "Well, I'd better go. I've got to study my hira-whatever… My teacher seems a little strict."

"Okay, and Tris?" She called before he pulled out his earbuds. "I know you'll be fine no matter what happens."

"Of course. Love ya Tor." Tristan blew her a kiss before ending the call and sighing.

Talking to Tori always left him with a new understanding or a better grasp on a situation. This wasn't any different. He was glad that she validated his decision and believed that he was doing the right thing. He closed his laptop and placed it on the far corner of his desk before settling into the uncomfortable wooden desk chair.

"Alrighty…" He spoke aloud and plugged his headphones into his phone. "These characters aren't going to memorize themselves."

And he began his homework oblivious to all that surrounded him. He didn't notice the eyes staring at him from above.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: Hello, ya'll! Okay, I'll stop… I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter. I mean, it's not that long but, it's longer than the other ones! Did you like the end of this chapter? For the next chapter, I'll be skipping ahead a little further in the year. I hope you all enjoy this fic!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: Hello guys! I am back with yet another chapter of Living Arrangements! Hopefully things start to flesh out and make a little more sense. Hopefully this chapter clarifies and raises new questions for you guys.

It was now October and Tristan was adjusting to the freedom of college life well. He had been actually doing pretty well in his classes and was proud of that fact. He'd been spending most of his time with Maya and his roomie and suitemate. Miles and Maya seemed to be taking their affection for each other slowly and continued to go on outings that neither would admit to being dates. Tristan still felt some pain but felt happy for them nonetheless.

Maya had proven to be a great friend and was always keeping her eye out for Tristan's well-being. No one could ever replace Tori but, Maya was amazing in her own right.

They had all made plans to meet up at Maya and Zig's apartment to hang out and just relax. Since becoming friends with Maya, Tristan had learned to tolerate Zig. He wasn't in a rush to be besties with the guy but, at least he could walk in a room without wanting to roll his eyes. He'd grabbed all the ingredients he needed for his super special popcorn that was better than life itself, if he did say so himself. He couldn't wait.

Tristan walked to Maya's classroom where he found Miles waiting for her.

"Hey." He greeted simply. "Should we carpool or do you want to drive separate cars?"

"I think we should take one car. Doesn't make sense to drive separately if we're going to the same place. And besides, Maya hopped on the bus and I was gonna give her a ride back to her place." Miles suggested. "We'll all take my car."

"I was going to suggest that. It's strangely cold for October and I don't think you guys would appreciate being turned into icicles in my box on wheels." Tristan rolled his eyes at the thought of his hunk of junk. He'd ask for a new car for Christmas this year.

"Cool." Miles spoke just as the door to Maya's classroom swung open allowing a multitude of students into the hallways.

Maya jogged over to them with a big smile on her face.

"I'm so excited for you guys to finally get to see my apartment!" Maya spoke as they began to travel back to the dorms. "Don't worry; I made Zig clean up so that it wouldn't look like a wreck."

"That lummox can clean? Who knew?" Tristan joked while Maya rolled her eyes with no hint of malice.

"He also said not to worry about picking anything up in terms of actual food."

"Oh no… Is he gonna cook?" Tristan moaned.

He'd never heard Tori talk about Zig's cooking so naturally, he'd just assumed that the other teen didn't cook.

"Oh, his cooking is amazing!" Maya exclaimed. "I actually told him that he should try for culinary because it was that good."

Tristan's eyebrows rose in surprise. Of all the things, cooking? He'd have to tell Tori about that one.

"Hey, I cook too!" Miles gave a fake pout getting Maya's attention.

Tristan snorted before rolling his eyes at his roommate.

"Sure, he does." Tristan smirked. "Gourmet delights. From the microwave to your stomach!"

Maya practically cackled in laughter as she high fived Tristan as all three of them chuckled.

"Alright, alright…. Let's get going before you expose more of my finer qualities…" Miles gestured at the exit.

After about two hours, Winston made his way back to the room where he found his friends waiting for him. Everyone packed what they deemed necessary for the trip to the Matlinovak residence and piled up in Miles' car. The ride was filled with comfortable banter and many good laughs. Tristan gazed up and saw Miles' hand resting closely near Maya's.

Even after these few weeks of being friends, Tristan's heart still managed to ache slightly. He remained happy for them even though it still never felt easy to watch them together. He wondered how long the ache would plague him. Maya still made sure that this was okay with Tristan and would often ask his advice on certain matters. In the weeks they'd become friends, Maya was proving herself to be quite the friend to Tristan. He'd never felt that he could trust someone so quickly until he met Maya. She just… understood him.

They arrived at the apartment complex and Tristan looked around at how beautiful it looked. It wasn't high rise by any means but, it was surrounded by nature enough that it looked enchanted. The evergreen trees encompassing the area were tall and healthy looking. There was a small fountain in front of the building with an angel playing a harp.

"This is it!" Maya cheered excitedly as she grabbed some of the bags from Miles' trunk.

"Girl, it's so pretty!" Tristan remarked pulling out his phone to snap some pictures. "Group selfie!"

Everyone put their bags down and rushed over to join the picture.

"Totes uploading this to Face Range!" Tristan proclaimed gleefully. He was already having fun and he hadn't even been inside the place yet.

The group gathered the rest of the bags from the trunk and made their way to the entrance hall where the paging device was located. Maya input the passcode into the machine and the door pinged in response allowing them access to the foyer. They rode the elevator up to floor three and walked down the surprisingly spacious hall until they reached apartment 304. Maya knocked on the door and within no time at all, a tall male wearing nothing but black jeans and a white tank top answered the door. Tristan sighed at the combination.

"Do you have something against actual shirts or something?" Zig gave a very Kanye West shrug at the question. "It's almost winter…"

"I can flex a little for you." Zig replied doing just that. Tristan rolled his eyes while shaking his head. Yup, still just as narcissistic as always.

"By the way, Tori says 'hi'."

"I was supposed to Skype her last Tuesday but this one," he gestured at Maya. "insisted that I cook dinner."

"Well, you complain whenever I cook!" Maya argued pushing her way into the apartment. ""Maya, the meat is too salty." "These eggs are overcooked!""

"Whatever! I don't even talk like that…" Zig spoke taking the bags from Maya and placing them onto the counter.

"You do too! If I had a nickel for every time you said something was wrong with my cooking, I'd be rich!"

"Well, if you didn't try to burn water-" Zig began.

"So," Miles interjected dispelling any further argument. "You guys gonna give us a tour?"

"Oh, right!" Maya took Miles by the wrist and began to drag him down the hall. "Follow me!"

"They have such a weird relationship…" Winston remarked to Tristan.

"You're telling me…" Tristan said trailing off slightly.

They ended the tour at Maya's room. It was painted a deep mauve with pink and purple accessories accenting it. Tristan flopped onto her mattress and smiled.

"This mattress feels sooooo good!" He spoke with a satisfied grin. "The mattresses at the dorm are complete shit… Probably haven't replaced those things since the pyramids were built."

"I told you to buy that mattress pad…" Miles pointed out punching Tristan's leg. "But, someone was being too cheap to buy it…."

Tristan sad up and pushed Miles' arm playfully. "Some of us aren't loaded and have to y'know, save money?"

Miles rolled his eyes and for a split second, Tristan thought that he'd offended his roommate. Miles punching his leg a second later signified that he'd done no harm. With Miles, sometimes  
Tristan just couldn't tell what would offend him. He seemed carefree enough so, it was difficult to gauge what wasn't a light topic for him. The only thing Tristan knew was not up for discussion was Miles' family sans Frankie and his brother Hunter. He respected Miles' preference to not speak about it unless it was brought up but, he couldn't deny a certain curiosity. He'd never met anyone quite as affluent as Miles. Maybe one day, Miles would trust him enough with the information.

They returned to the modestly decorated living room and helped Zig unpack the bags. Zig picked up one of the plastic bags with a few small paper bags inside.

"Is this…." He trailed off before reaching inside the bag and pulling out a large glass bottle. "Who brought booze?"

Maya, Winston, and Tristan all turned to frown at Miles who raised his hands up in defense.

"Why am I not surprised?" Tristan sighed going over to rummage through the bags himself.

"Uh, because it was obvious that I was going to bring alcohol." Miles spoke shrugging.

"Did you at least get me ingredients for Bloody Mary?" Tristan asked holding up the bottle of vodka.

"Uh…" Miles trailed off sheepishly.

"I figured as much…" Tristan frowned.

"Actually…" Zig spoke up after placing the sodas in the refrigerator. "I may have the ingredients here. I know my way around a bar."

"Look who's on top of something for once!" Tristan spoke teasingly.

"Hey! I resent that!" Zig pointed his spatula at Tristan who merely stuck his tongue out in retaliation. "Go sit in the living room or something until I'm done cooking."

Following Zig's instructions, the group crowded into the living room and plugged up the XBOX that Winston had brought with him. Tristan pawed through the small duffel bag of games and frowned when he didn't find what he was looking for.

"Where's "Just Dance"?" He asked looking at Winston expectantly. "I know you have it. I saw it in your room the other day."

"Uh, at the dorm where I left it…." Winston replied as though the answer were obvious.

"Why?" Tristan balked.

Winston shook his head in disbelief.

"Because no one wants to play that."

Just Dance was one of Tristan's favorite games. He remembered having to fight Owen half the time for control of the TV just so that he could play it. It doubled as something fun for him and a chance to work out. Sure, it wasn't one of those hardcore games but, it was fun and he enjoyed it.

"Chill out Chewy." Miles sent a stern glare his best friend's way effectively silencing any further words from him. "Not everyone likes to play Call of Duty all the time. Stop being a jerk."

Winston opened his mouth to say something but Miles fished around in his own overnight bag and pulled out a copy of Just Dance showing it to Tristan. Tristan was surprised. He hadn't expected Miles to actually defend him like this. Especially not against his oldest friend.

"Dude, did you take it from my room?" Winston barked angrily.

"No," Miles shook his head and continued glaring almost challenging Winston to say something he didn't like. "It's Frankie's. I had a feeling that you'd leave it at home so, I brought this copy. It's not right to just bring games that you are interested in."

"Whatever…" Winston rolled his eyes before flopping back to the couch and starting up the system.

Tristan looked over at Miles who rolled his eyes as well before searching the game pile himself. Miles had actually stood up for him. He couldn't help the small smile that stretched across his face as he looked at the brunet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: Don't kill me! I know that I kinda made Winston a bit of a jerk right towards the end but, I really wanted to put that in to keep with some canonesque scenes. There is a method to my madness. Fret not though, I don't intend for him to be some sort of antagonist in this fic. Next is a chapter that I had a little too much fun writing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: This is probably going to be one of my favorite chapters! Here we finally get into some more of the drama surrounding Miles and Tristan's budding relationship as friends (as well as potential boyfriends) and, some more insight on Miles and Maya's actual feelings for each other. Keep in mind that this is a Triles fic but, I cannot in good conscience leave out the fact that Miles and Maya did feel some way for each other. It'll be brief and I have no intention of making them a couple so, fret not. That being said, I hope you enjoy this update!

They were still gathered in the living room just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Winston had cooled off and was merrily chatting with everyone about school and whatnot. Tristan had to hand it to Zig; the man was an excellent cook. He'd even aware enough to make low calorie dishes. Though, Tristan supposed that it was probably Maya's idea. So far, this had been a good day.

The sun began to set and at that point, the booze had been brought out. Miles didn't buy the cheap shit either. Zig and Miles were on official bartending duty being the only two with any experience mixing drinks for anyone. As promised, Tristan was sipping his Bloody Mary and praising the taste. Having an older brother who was somewhat of a delinquent had its perks. Tristan had been exposed to many different types of alcohol and thus knew what to drink and what to avoid.

Once everyone had their drinks of choice, Miles and Zig sat back down joining the group once more. They all sat back feeling pleasantly buzzed at this point save for Winston who only wanted one drink. Maya suddenly clapped both of her hands together and rose to her feet in a slightly tipsy manner.

"Since we're all here and we're all friends now," she began with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Let's play 'Never Have I Ever'."

Zig, Miles, and Tristan all smirked and voiced their agreement. Tristan was especially excited because he used to play this game with Tori and their friends back home. Everyone went about refilling their drinks; Winston refilled his with soda rather than alcohol.

"Alright Maya," Zig took a seat on the couch. "Since this was your idea, start us off."

"Let's see… Never have I ever skinny dipped!"

Miles and Winston both took sips of their drinks.

"Miles isn't all that surprising." Maya spoke earning a shrug from the brunet. "Winston though… What were you doing?"

"Uh… I'd rather not talk about it…" Winston blushed and peered down into his cup.

"You're just lucky it was me who caught you and not my dad. You and Frankie would've been toast." Miles shuddered visibly. "Great, an image I never wanted to see ever again is here to stay."

Tristan chuckled before asking how they would decide upon turns. It ended up being based off their clockwise seating: Maya, Miles, Tristan, Zig, and Winston. Miles opened his mouth to speak.

"Man… This is hard…" Miles chuckled to himself. "Never have I ever…" He trailed off for a minute before snapping his fingers. "Never have I ever dated someone I was friends with first!"

"That's oddly specific." Maya seemed a little upset by that and Tristan couldn't see why. She took a drink of her beverage before giving a slight frown in Miles' direction.

Miles appeared not to notice the look and smiled triumphantly at the occupants of the room. Zig, Maya, and Winston took sips of their drinks. Tristan smirked to himself and for once thanked his lack of dating experience.

"It's on you Tris." Miles waved in his direction a little lazily.

"Never have I ever dated a girl." He gave everyone a shit-eating grin before leaning back.

"Of course you would say that one…" Zig rolled his eyes but took another drink. "Really easy when you don't like girls to begin with…"

"You're just jealous that you can't use it Novak." Tristan stuck his tongue out.

Miles and Winston raised their cups again while Maya reached over Miles to lock pinkies with Tristan. He gave her a soft smile before letting go and resuming his former position.

"Since you wanna go that route," Zig began narrowing his eyes at Tristan. Tristan knew that look. He was determined. "Never have I ever kissed a guy. Drink up Milligan."

"Wow… You totally got me…" Tristan spoke sarcastically before flipping Zig off and drinking from his cup.

Tristan looked to his left and got the shock of his life. Miles was drinking from his cup.  _What?_  This was a new development. They'd been roomies for a little bit now and Tristan thought they'd become good enough friends to where they knew a decent amount about each other. He looked over to Winston to see if the bespectacled boy had any answers but noticed something else. Winston looked a little nervous and flushed. He raised his cup slowly to his lips and took a quick sip.

"Would you look at that?" Winston spoke nervously. "It's my turn. N-never have I-"

"Ummm… Pause… You can't just drop a bombshell like that and not give us some deets!" Tristan spoke before poking Miles in the arm.

"I guess…" Miles shrugged.

"Miles…" Winston gave his best friend a pleading look.

"It's not that big of a deal…" Miles waved at him. "Well, a couple of years ago, Chewy was cast in Romeo and Juliet as Romeo and he was really freaking out about the kiss scene."

"Oh God…." Winston moaned as he slapped a hand over his reddening face.

"So, I kissed him to show him that it wasn't that big of an idea." Miles shrugged. "It's just a kiss…"

"Yeah, but…" Winston began.

"I can relate. My best friend Tori had to the same thing to me when I was in high school. Oddly enough, it was the same play but, ours was Romeo and Juliet but with two guys as Romeo and Juliet. Our director Eli, loves to fuck with canon in plays." Tristan admitted smiling.

Winston visibly relaxed at Tristan's notion of things being okay. Tristan knew how hard it was not having experienced your first kiss yet. Granted, it wasn't with whom he wanted it to be but, Tori had shown him that there was nothing really all that special about it. The only thing that made it special was honestly the fact that she was his best friend in the world. Still, Tristan's surprise came from the fact that Miles of all people took the initiative to kiss his best friend just to help him out. Maybe… Just maybe there was a chance— _No… That's stupid…_  He cut off that train of thought before it could continue. He wasn't gonna dwell on that.

"Either way, Winston, it's your turn." Maya pointed out.

"R-right… So, never have I ever done drugs." Winston said.

Maya, Miles, and Zig all took drinks from their respective glasses. Tristan smiled at Winston.

"I'm surprised that you haven't tried anything, Winston." Maya questioned. "Especially with this guy as your bestie." She gestured to Miles with a point of her thumb.

"I'll do a lot of crazy stuff but, drugs were never really something I was interested in. I don't have a problem with anyone else doing them just, don't expect me to." Winston spoke firmly.

Maya nodded her head in agreement. Tristan could relate to that. His parents had expected him to go a little nuts since he was in college because of how strictly they regulated certain things he did in high school. Having an older brother as the troublemaker of the house was both a blessing and curse. He knew not to do things that his brother Owen did but, his parents were even harsher on him to ensure that he didn't follow in his brother's footsteps. Granted, Owen was doing a lot better now that he was in University. He'd gotten his act together and was actually staying on a good path. He still partied every now and then but, the days of largely slacking off and general troublemaking were at somewhat gone.

The game continued on before they ran out of things that none of them had ever done. Maya spoke up again and this time her suggestion brought an evil smirk to Tristan's face.

"Game change!" She shouted. "Truth or Dare!"

"Really? What is this some grade three slumber party? Next are you gonna suggest we braid each other's hair while looking at "Dreamboat" magazine?" Zig teased elbowing her.

"Keep that up and I'll dare you to do it." She smirked when he quickly averted his eyes and shut his lips. "Now, anyone who doesn't want to do it?"

"I'm fine with it as long as I don't have to do anything that will be a relationship wrecker. I'm a taken man." Winston said firmly.

"We'll keep that in mind. Everyone else is fair game because we are all single." Maya nodded in the affirmative. "Anyone else?" No one else spoke up. "Well, we'll start with you Winston. Truth or dare?"

Winston scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Dare."

"Okay. I dare you to act like the biggest Justin Bieber fan ever to Zig. I mean, full on fangirling." Maya smirked.

"Pshh… That's child's play…" Winston rose to his feet and took a deep breath before plastering on the biggest grin he could make.

He stood in the doorway with and locked eyes with Zig who rolled his eyes at him.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!" He practically screeched. "Are you Justin Beiber?! OMG OMG! I'm like, your biggest fan! I have all of your albums and I run all the official Justin Beiber fansites! OMG! Can I take a picture with you?! OMG I can't wait to show this to all of my friends! They're gonna be soooooo jealous!"

"Okay, okay!" Zig spoke pushing Winston away from him. "That's enough of that… You sound like my little cousin…."

"Alright, way to go Winston!" Maya cheered as Winston took a polite bow before sitting down on the floor. "Now, it's your turn."

"Hmmm… Let's see… I'll choose… Tristan!" He pointed in Tristan's direction. "Truth or dare?"

"Please…" Tristan frowned. "Truth. I know your little games Winston…."

"Suit yourself. What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

"That's also child's play. Let's see… There was that talent show at me, Zig, and Tori's old school. I initially signed up to sing a song that me and Tori wrote when we were kids. Zig tried to tell me and Tori not to sing it but, I didn't want to listen. In short, we all got on stage and sang the song including Zig, in front of the entire school. You can imagine the reaction."

"I could've sworn we agreed never to speak about that again…" Zig frowned at Tristan.

"Hey, my hands are tied. I got truth, remember?" Tristan shrugged.

"Whatever, go…"

"Okay Novak, truth or dare?" Tristan asked.

"Dare, of course." Zig spoke puffing his chest out. "I can handle whatever you can dish out."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Tristan sing-songed. "I dare you to kiss Maya!"

Maya simply smiled and Zig balked before standing up to move closer to her.

"Just for the record, this means nothing." He made sure to say to let her know.

"Sure." Maya shrugged.

Miles looked at Maya and a flash of something appeared in his eyes. It was too fast for Tristan to dwell on it but, if he didn't know any better, he'd say that it was jealousy. Maya leaned in to peck Zig on the lips. It was over just as quickly as it started. Zig had a slight blush on his cheeks and rubbed a hand up and down his neck to soothe himself.

"Hollingsworth, truth or dare?" Zig spoke frowning.

"Truth." He said simply.

"Tell me about this rumored My Little Pony collection you have."

Miles seemed a little taken aback by this. He shot Winston a glare before shaking his head.

"'Rumored', eh?" Tristan chuckled a little. "I found the show by accident. I was using my brother, Hunter's computer to play some game and I saw an open folder. I opened it and saw all these pictures of these colored horses. Hunter has always been a little weird but, this was a new level of weird. So, I clicked on one of the videos in the folder and one thing led to another."

Zig fell out laughing and Maya punched him in the shin.

"What can I say?" Miles shrugged. "Friendship is magic."

Everyone in the room erupted in laughter. They went on for a few rounds back and forth until one dare changed the entire dynamic.

"Miles, truth or dare?" Zig waggled his eyebrows.

"Dare." Miles met him with a bored look.

"I dare you to kiss Tristan." he spoke.

Tristan and Miles both looked at him like he'd lost his mind. Did he really just do what he thought he did? Did he really just dare Miles to kiss him? Of all the things, why this?

"Haha… Come on Novak… That's not a very funny joke." Tristan laughed nervously.

"Who's joking?" Zig smirked to himself. "Pucker up." Maya noticed the look on Tristan's face and was about to jump in to do some damage control until Miles spoke up first.

"Well, I guess we have to put on a show for him Tris. I guess that's what he's into." Miles turned to face Tristan.

Tristan wanted to do anything. Push the brunet away from him. Lean in and kiss him senseless. His face began to heat up and he felt his throat going dry. Miles leaned close to him and placed a hand on the side of his face. He barely had time to process the extent of what he was about to do before he felt slightly chapped lips pressed softly against his own. Tristan fought the urge to go lax against the brunet who moved his lips insistently on his.

Miles' thumb stroked softly at the skin of Tristan's cheek as he pushed him backwards to the couch. Tristan relaxed and fell backwards until his head hit the armrest where Miles continued to kiss him. At this moment, Tristan couldn't think anymore. All that mattered right then and there was how good the kiss was feeling. They broke apart slowly breathing harshly and lips stained red. Miles shot a triumphant look at Zig whose eyes bulged to the size of dinner plates. Maya and Winston sat quietly with unreadable expressions.

"Hope that satisfied you." Miles licked his lips before sitting back against the couch as cool as a cucumber. "I believe it's my turn."

Tristan slowly lifted himself from the armrest before staring blankly into the room. What had just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Crap: I know, I'm an astoundingly shitty person for this cliffhanger… I had to end it there. Fret not, in the next installments, your questions (that I hope you have) will be answered. Here we have our first look at some actual Triles. Why was Miles so comfortable with kissing Tristan in front of everyone? In the next chapters (when I get around to writing them), we'll understand more of how everyone felt on the kiss and what will happen with them. Thanks for reading! To tide you over until I get around to writing more, I have a Zigles (MilesxZig) fic coming up! It's a bit smutty so, read at your own risk.


End file.
